Luminous tube sign



Sept. l2, 1939. H- HOTCHNER ET AL 2,172,384

LUMINOUS TUBE SIGN Filedl M arch 18, 1937 INVENTOR. flRoLo Hav-annee Hnssler-E. Merc/ILP Patented Sept. 12, 1939 LUIVHNOUS TUBE SIGN Harold Hotchner, San Francisco, and Herbert E. Metcalf, Walnut Creek, Calif.; said Metcalf assigner to said Hotchner Application March 18, 1937, Serial No. 131,566

4 Claims. (Cl. :l0-130) Our invention relates to luminous tube signs, and more particularly to that type of sign wherein a luminous tube is placed in a slot in a character raised from the face oi the sign. The present invention is an improvement ,on the Hotchner Patent No. 2,072,986, issued March 9, 1937, entitled Luminous tube sign. v

The main object of our invention is to provide means for supporting the letter and the tube from a signvface in such a manner that lthey Ymay' be adjusted relative to each other.

Among other objects of our invention are: To provide a means for adjustably supporting a luminous tube in a slot; to provide a means -for supporting a luminous tube in adjustable relation to the edges of a slot in a character raised from a sign face; and to provide a simple and easily adjustable combination of raised character and luminous tube to be `used as a sign.

Other objects of our invention will be apparent or will be specifically pointed out in the description forming a part of this specification, but we do not limit ourselves to the embodiment of the invention herein described, as various forms may either the tube or the character may be removed from the sign face without disturbing the positioning of the other'member of the combination. The present invention, broadly, deals with a tube and character combination using a single set of supports. Incertain of the embodiments of the invention either the character of the tube is supported directly from the sign face, whereas the other member of the combination may be supported, not from the sign face directly, but through the medium of the supports already provided. Or, in another embodiment of the invention, the character may be supported directly from the sign face land the tube supported in the slot by supports extending from the letter or character. y

The main feature comm'on to both of these embodiments is that the tube may be adjusted in the slot so that it may be spaced properly from the edges thereof. In this regard it is obvious that glass tubing cannot be bent or formed into characters with the precision that characterizes metal working, and as a'consequence we have .found that in order to properly position a tube in a slotted character, theslot should be made greater in Width than the diameter of the tubing. We have also found, however, that even when such a provision is made, it is highly advantageous to provide adjustable means whereby the tubing may be adjusted relative to the edges of the slot both as to heighth from the sign face,

and laterally.

The details of our invention may be more fully understood by reference to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawing.

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a slotted, raised charactenin this case the letter I, there being a luminous tube positioned inthe slot.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view taken as indicated by the line 2-2 in Fig. 1.

, Fig. 3 is a cross sectional' view showing another means for adjustably supporting the letter4 and tube.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectionalview showing still another method of supporting the combination.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing one way in which the tube may be supported directly from the character.

Fig. 6 is a cross sectional View showing another way of supporting the tube from the character.

Fig. '7 is a plan view of a portion of the character and tube combination shown in Fig. 6.

Referring directly to Figs. 1 and 2, a sign face l is provided with a raised character 2, in this case the letter I, having a letter iace 3, a downwardly extending edge ange 4, and a central slot 5. In the slot 5 is positioned a luminous tube 6.

The character is supported directly fromthe sign face I by a plurality of upright standards 1 fastened to the sign face at one end and to the character at the other end, the character being removable from the standards by the removal of character screws 8. Thus the position of the character from the sign face is fixed with relation to the sign face, but the character as a whole is removable.

In this regard we wish to point out that the exact` sectional shape of the character is no part 'of the present invention, and the section of the character face 3 may be of any contour desired, or even a perfectly iiat sheet ofmetal or other material may be used to make up the character. We do,however, desire that there be a space between the edges of the character and the sign face in order that light from the tube may be pro'- jected against the background of the sign face and be reflected out from around the edges of the letter to provide a silhouette letter, all as explained in the above-mentioned prior patent of Hotchner. v

In the particular embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the tube itself is supported on a. tube bracket Il having bearings II sliding on standaras 1, and maintained in position by set screws' I2. Mounted on bracket III is a support base I3 carrying an insulating tube support I4, preferably of glass, and formed to receive the tube as is .well known in the art. The tube is fastened to the support by tie wire I5. Thus it will be seen that the tube 6 is adjustable with relation to the edges of the'slot 5 through the medium of the tube support, and that the tube is supported, not directly from the sign lface, but from the upright standards 1.

Fig. 3 shows a slight modiilcation of the support, wherein a -U-shaped support bracket I6 is fastened rigidly to the sign face I and this U- shaped support bracket supports both the tube and the character. Here the character is supported from the bracket by the use ofy sleeves I'I andlong bolts I8 passing through the sleeves to engage the bracket I6. The verticall adjustment here is made byvarying the length of the sleeves I1, whereas a lateral adjustment of the tube I6 ymay be changed by varying the position of the mounting of the insulating support I4 on the bracket I6 through the medium of free holes I9 in the latter bracket.`

In the embodiment shown in Fig.` 4, a singlev upright standard 1 is provided at each support point and the tube 6 is supported directly from the top of this upright standard 1, the insulating support I4 engaging the top of this standard.

The character is supported directly by a vU- shaped character bracket" 20, `this bracket bearing on the upright standard 1 and vertically movable thereon and iixed'inI position by set screw 2I. Here-no lateral adjustment has been shown, but this `may be easily provided by utilizing a slot or a free hole for the head of characterscrews 8.

Thus, the embodiments shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive show branched supports, certain branches comprising the tube, other branches supporting the character.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7, only character supports 1 are utilized, and the tube l6 is supported directly from the character 'but in such a manner that its position may be varied laterally with respect to the edges of the slot 5.

In Fig. 5 the insulating supports I4 a`re positioned on the character. facev 3 opposite each other, and extend toward the tube. They are maintained on the character face by means of insulator brackets 22, these insulator brackets tube supports Il are placed beneath the 'charac,

ter face where they cannot be seen,`and the support brackets I3, attached to the tube insulators,

' are held to the character by bracket bolts 2l extending'through the character face through slots 25,'whereby the insulators may be moved toward each other and the whole tube moved laterally with relation to the character edges and then the bracket bolts tightened to ilx the tube in the position desired.

Thus it will be seen that we have provided means for supporting the character and means for supporting the tubing in such a manner that the tubing may be adjusted in theslot, either laterally, vertically, or both, thus assuring that even though the tube does not exactly follow the contour of the edges of the slot, it can be positioned in the most advantageous position to give the results desired. f

Furthermore, we prefer, as outlined in th above-mentioned patent to Hotchner, to imbed the terminals of the terminal electrodesof the tube below the sign face in an insulating receptacle 30, shown in dotted lines in Fig.l l. II, then, the electrode ends of the tube are made sufilciently small in diameter, to be less than the width of the-slot, it is obvious that the tube may be removed from the character without disturbing the latter, or the character may be removed fromV the sign without disturbing the tube, in the embodiments shown in Figs. 1 to 4 inclusive, whereas in the embodiments illustrated by Figs. 5, 6 and '1 the tube and character may be removed as aiunit or thetube removed, leaving the character in place. As it is the tube that requires the more frequent service, the removal in all embodiments .of the tube alone is desirable from aservice point of view.

We claim: f

1. In combination, a sign face, a slotted character, means for supporting said character from said face, `a luminous tube positioned in and following the slot in said character without touching the edges thereof, and support means for said tube adjustablymounted on the character supporting means only.

2. In combination,l a-sign face, a slotted character spaced from said face, a luminous tube positioned in and following the slot in said character without touching the edges thereof, a plurality of branched supports extending from said sign face, means for removably attaching said character tocertain branches of said supports,-

and means for removably attaching said tube to other branches of said supports.

3. In combination, a sign face, a slotted-character spaced from said face, a luminous tube positioned in and following the lslot in said character without touching the edges thereof, a plurality of branched supports extending from said sign face, means for removably attaching said character to certain branches of said supports,

means for removably attaching said tube to other branches of said supports, and means for adjusting said tube in. said slot with relation to the edges thereof.

4. In combination, a sign face, a slotted character spaced from said face, a luminous tube positionedin and following the slot in said character without touching the edges thereof, a plurality of branched supports extending from said sign face, meahs for removably attaching said character to certain branchesof said supports, means for removably attaching said tube to other branches of said supports, and means for. adjusting the position .of the `character supporting branches with relation to the tube supporting branches.

^ HAROLD HOTCHNER.

HERBERTv E. METCALF. 

